Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles: Ownership

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what controls exist relating to the release of information on vehicle ownership held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) takes the security of the data it holds very seriously and has measures in place to protect it. The law allows vehicle keeper details to be disclosed in certain circumstances, including as a first point of contact to establish where liability for an incident or event may lie. All DVLA’s data release services are subject to a formal assessment before they are made available for use. This ensures that there are adequate policies as well as procedural and technical controls in place to protect the data. Privacy Impact Assessments are also completed to identify and address any privacy risks and ensure that personal data is processed in compliance with the law. An audit carried out earlier this year by the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed that the DVLA’s procedures offer high assurance that processes are in place to mitigate the risks of non-compliance with the Data Protection Act.

Electric Vehicles

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to ensure that electric cars emit a warning noise so that those cars are audible.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: EU Regulations require vehicle manufacturers to fit artificial sound generators on new types of electric and hybrid electric vehicles from 2019. The requirements for these sound generators will be based on an existing UN-ECE regulation. By 2021 all new electric and hybrid electric vehicles on sale will require sound generators. Vehicle manufacturers may optionally choose to fit sound generators before the 2019 date.

Driving: Disqualification

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many disqualification decisions taken in another EU member state have been given effect in the UK, in each of the last three years, under the terms of the European Convention on Driving Disqualifications.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: After committing a driving offence in another EU member state, 26 drivers were disqualified in the UK in 2014 under the terms of the European Convention on Driving Disqualifications. There are no numbers for 2015 & 2016 as the convention ceased to apply in December 2014 following the UK’s Treaty of Lisbon opt-out.

Road Works

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve street works organisation and reinstatement.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government wants to deliver better journeys for drivers. Roadworks are essential, but that doesn’t mean they should be in place any longer than is absolutely necessary. We are continuing with our work to modernise and update legislation and statutory guidance where this is necessary and where it will lead to improvements in the way that road and street works are managed. Recent examples include consultations earlier this year on updated statutory guidance relating to inspections and modernised regulations relating to the qualifications regime. In 2015, we updated regulations and guidance on permit schemes that are now in place in almost 60% of local authority areas and which are resulting in more effective management of street works and reductions in the duration of works. We are also working with stakeholders to review the Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in the Highway (SROH).

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Natural Gas

Baroness Humphreys: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people living in communities of 150 residents or more in the UK have no access to mains gas.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Estimates for communities and residents are not available. However, published estimates for the number of households in Great Britain not connected to the gas network are available at Lower Super Output Area level in the attached.



Copy of LSOA estimates 2014
(Excel SpreadSheet, 4.62 MB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Disability: Employment

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people who are deafblind, and those with complex needs, benefit from plans to halve the disability employment gap.

Lord Freud: The Government is committed to enabling all disabled people to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations. Work is an important part of this, which is why the Government has committed itself to halving the disability employment gap.We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health and conduct a consultation to understand how every individual can have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will continue to engage with key stakeholders that support deaf blind people as part of the Green Paper consultation.The feedback from the consultation and the work that we are doing to build and test the evidence base will help us to find out what really works to remove the barriers disabled people and people with health conditions face in getting and staying in work.

Disability: Employment Schemes

Baroness Eaton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation in the recent report from the charity Sense, Realising Aspirations for All, to break the link between welfare benefits and access to employment by making support voluntary and available to all disabled people, regardless of the benefits they claim.

Lord Freud: We welcome the Sense report, Realising Aspirations for All and its findings. We want all disabled and people with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations.We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health and conduct a consultation to understand how every individual can have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will continue to engage with Sense and other key stakeholders as part of the Green Paper consultation.

HM Treasury

Sterling

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the drop in the value of sterling in recent months reflects the markets' view of the likely future health of the UK economy.

Lord Inglewood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to reintroduce exchange controls following Brexit.

Lord Young of Cookham: The UK has an inflation target, not an exchange rate target, and Her Majesty’s Government does not express a view on the level of exchange rates. Instead, the exchange rate is allowed to adjust flexibly in response to economic conditions and movements in sterling are determined by market forces. This framework means we do not need to introduce exchange rate controls.

M20: Large Goods Vehicles

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Infrastructure Commission will examine the economic impact of (1) the deployment of Operation Stack in 2015, and (2) their plans for a lorry area to address problems caused by Operation Stack.

Lord Young of Cookham: The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) will examine strategic transport infrastructure when it conducts its first National Infrastructure Assessment. The Chancellor, together with the NIC, has launched a call for ideas to give stakeholders an opportunity to contribute their ideas for issues which could form the subject of future NIC studies. This process will help us ensure the NIC is focused on the country’s most critical infrastructure challenges.

Bank of England

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of comments by Kristin Forbes, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, on possible over-counting of the economic effects of Brexit, what assessment they have made of the Bank of England's growth forecasts.

Lord Young of Cookham: The government has produced no such assessment of the independent Monetary Policy Committee’s forecasts for the UK economy. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has the responsibility to produce detailed forecasts for the economy and public finances twice a year. The OBR will produce forecasts to accompany the Autumn Statement on 23 November.

Cabinet Office

Department for International Development: Ministers

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to appoint a new Minister of State for the Department for International Development in the House of Lords as a replacement for the current Minister; and if so, when they intend to make that appointment.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Rt Hon Lord Bates has been appointed as Minister of State at the Department for International Development (DfID).

Department for International Trade

Liam Fox

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what experience the Secretary of State for International Trade has had of working inside British business.

Lord Price: My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade’s CV is available on gov.uk.